1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system for electro-optically determining parameters of a target, especially a distance to the target and, in the case of a moving target, a direction, velocity and spin thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known, for example, from my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,794 to determine flight parameters of a ball in flight by successively pulsing sensors arranged along the flight path at microsecond intervals to obtain multiple, successive linear images of linear sections of the ball and, in turn, reconstructed images of the entire ball on which a pair of reflectors is mounted. The flight parameters are determined by image analysis of the changes in the locations of the images of the reflectors.
It is also known in the prior art to measure distance to a target by measuring a phase difference between transmitted light and reflected light in systems using a continuously modulated sine wave source. However, the maximum current that can be used with a continuously modulated source is limited due to the limited heat dissipation capability of the light source.